If you are tired of needing to smoke morning, noon and night just to feel normal, Live Chat with Recovery Connection staff now. Explore your options for living without marijuana dependence.

What Is Marijuana Addiction?

It’s natural; it can’t be harmful, right?

How many times have you heard marijuana is the gateway drug for other addictions? You know that you started using marijuana innocently, experimenting with friends in middle school. It was fun, exciting and made you feel funny. Over time you start using before and after high school and once in a while during lunch. Suddenly you are an unmotivated adult having trouble keeping relationships other than with your dealer.

Two main points you should know about marijuana abuse:

A 2009 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on marijuana use revealed that more than 28 million Americans abused marijuana. That is more than an occasional hit. Abuse of any substance requires regular use. For that study, 4.3 million Americans met the criteria for marijuana addiction.

Studies also demonstrate that regular marijuana users frequently have other mental health issues and that recurring marijuana use can trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia.

Regular use of marijuana produces what is known as amotivational syndrome. Amotivational syndrome is a person's inability to take action, to change a course of direction, and/or to be productive. If you struggle with marijuana abuse you may also have a motivational deficit. Click here to start a private Live Chat to speak with our Recovery Connection staff, who can help you get into a drug rehab program and eliminate marijuana abuse.

Physical Symptoms of Marijuana Addiction

Smoking marijuana can lead to irreversible changes in the structure and function of the brain. In young people, use of marijuana has a profound impact upon brain function, which can then trigger mental health disorders and poor overall function in early adulthood. Young brains are still developing and even small alterations in structure and function can cause future brain abnormalities.

The pattern of marijuana addiction follows the same pattern of addiction as any other drug. You use until the effects seem to diminish and then use again.

Marijuana addiction has a direct impact, causing you to:

Perform poorly at school or job

Have low self-motivation

Have an inability to maintain intimate relationships

Be financially irresponsible

According to WomensHealth.gov, "marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing compounds than tobacco smoke."

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. It can create serious physical and psychological effects.

Serious Effects of Marijuana Abuse:

Cancer

Psychosis

Respiratory distress

Impaired immune ability to fight infections

Impaired cognitive ability

Lack of motivation

Decrease in testosterone levels in men

Increased testosterone levels for women

Lack of coordination

Sleep disturbance

Marijuana is considered a drug within the class of hallucinogens. Many of the symptoms of marijuana addiction will mirror those of other hallucinogens.

Marijuana Addiction Treatment – Get Help Now!

When you stop using marijuana, it causes increased psychological symptoms. The most common are anxiety, depression and sometimes psychotic symptoms. These symptoms increase in severity depending on the amount of marijuana used, frequency and duration. Addiction treatment centers prescribe medications to help with marijuana detox and decrease these psychological symptoms.

After successful completion of marijuana detox, a marijuana addict needs addiction treatment to learn how to negotiate daily life without mind-altering substances. Marijuana addiction treatment provides the user with strategies, techniques and knowledge about avoiding relapse and maintaining abstinence. Call Recovery Connection at 800-993-3869 now to speak with one of our specialists about entering drug rehab and eliminating marijuana abuse from your life.

If you feel you have a marijuana addiction and would like help to stop smoking your life away, call Recovery Connection 800-993-3869 today. Our helpline is open 24/7 and our coordinators can answer your questions and address your fears about detox and treatment. All calls are confidential and our services are free of charge.

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We aim to connect people in need of treatment with both the information and resources needed for them to find quality treatment that
is right for them. We also aim to be a resource for treatment providers to not only share their story but to also become
a part of our community. Together we can all work to increase the opportunity for people suffering from the disease of
addiction to overcome their addiction and a live a life in recovery.